


Hearts can heal

by extrastellar



Series: Hetalia Rare Pairs [3]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Breaking Up & Making Up, Fights, Hetalia Countries Using Human Names, How Do I Tag, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 14:27:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15997106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extrastellar/pseuds/extrastellar
Summary: João and Cheng get married, at long last. And Antonio? Antonio tells everyone that Tim couldn't make it to the wedding, not mentioning their bad fight and that Tim had been sleeping at his sister's place for two weeks already.





	Hearts can heal

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what this is, but here, have at it.

Antonio twirled the scotch in his glass, leaning against the table. His face was, for once, unreadable, when he said: "You refused my contract."

Tim crossed his arms behind his back and kept his chin up. "I did."

Antonio took a sip of his drink. "Why?"

"It took me years to get my shares back from you", Tim said coolly. "I don't want the FC conglomerate mingling with my business again."

The Spaniard set his glass down with a low 'clonk'. He was not smiling which was never a good sign. His voice was also awfully level. "You think I would try to get Jansen Bank back."

Tim let out a harsh laugh. "Don't tell me you wouldn't. FC has acquired dozens of smaller companies in the past. I know you'd love to do it again, especially with one you had to let go once."

Antonio's green eyes were now shining with rage. "Thinking that lowly of me, huh? You think I would try and take _my boyfriend's company_ from him out of greed?!"

"Boyfriend or not doesn't matter now", Tim said through clenched teeth. "I don't wish to be associated with you again."

Antonio moved. He abruptly pushed himself out of his leisure position and clenched his hands to fists, eyebrows narrowed and jaw clenched.

Tim knew he had gone too far, but he would not back down. "FC's best days are over. I know Èric and Xanti try to leave the conglomerate too. The only way your business can preserve is by acquiring a more successful one. That proposal is not a business contract, Antonio, it's my bank's doom."

"I've done everything for you!", Antonio growled and for a moment, Tim remembered the times back when Antonio Fernández Carriedo had been a business tycoon even Arthur Kirkland had feared. "You owe me. You would be nothing without me, Tim. _Nothing_. I raised you up."

"And dropped me down often enough", Tim spat. "Everything I am today is my own accomplishments. No one cares about the Fernández Carriedo name anymore. It only promises trouble. I don't owe you _a thing."_

Antonio's eyes flashed dangerously and he darted forward to grab Tim by the lapels. "Your business grew within mine. _Mine!_ You wouldn't even exist without _my_ empire, got that!"

Tim growled and slammed Antonio against the nearest wall, green eyes aflame with rage now too. "I do not depend on you and I never will again! I don't need you, I don't want you!"

Antonio sneered in disgust and pushed the other man away. "Oh, you don't need me? Fine! Fine, then get the fuck out!"

Tim let go of him as if he had burned himself. "You know what? That's a good idea."

"Yeah." Antonio yanked the door open. "What are you waiting for? Fuck off already. Don't show your fucking face around here ever again."

Tim stormed out without another word, slamming the door behind him.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

" _You had a fight?",_ Gilbert said. " _Happens all the time to Rod and me._ "

"Not just a fight", Antonio said, irritation seeping into his voice. He had barely slept for the past week, he had been too angry and too, yes, also sad. "I'm pretty sure that was a break-up."

Gilbert cackled on the other end of the line. " _Nah. You and Tülpchen*? Never!_ "

"And I'm telling you!", Antonio hissed. "Gil, I told him to never show his face around our house ever again."

Gilbert stopped laughing. He could hear rustling. " _Hold up— the heck, Anton! What happened?_ "

Antonio sighed and turned in his office chair, looking out of the full front window over London's roofs. "You know how my shares are doing."

" _Yeah — terrible_."

Antonio winced. "Thanks, Gil."

" _Sorry, man._ "

"I proposed a formal business contract to Tim since his shares are literally going through the roof. I also proposed contracts to others, Francis and Oxenstierna for example. Just to keep me overwater until Èric and Xanti are back in line."

" _Uh-huh_."

"Tim violently rejected the proposal. Said he doesn't want to be associated with me, that I would try to acquire his company."

" _Oh shit, go on_."

"I guess I kind of went off the rails too."

Gilbert groaned. " _You got angry_."

Antonio frowned. "Of course!"

" _You say a lot of hurtful shit when you're angry, y'know?"_

"Yeah, well, Tim says lots of hurtful shit all the time", Antonio muttered. "Point is — we basically broke up and I already told João and Cheng we'd be coming together for their wedding. They seated us next to each other and all. I saw the plans."

" _Oh scheiße*._ "

"Sounded like a swearword, so yeah."

His phone buzzed and Antonio lifted it from his ear to check who was knocking.

"Hold on, Gil. That's João." Antonio put his friend on hold and picked up the second call. "¡Hola, Juanito!"

" _You call me that one more time and you're officially uninvited_ ", João said gruffly. " _Jansen just called me_."

"Gabriel? Emma?", Antonio asked, faking obliviousness to whom his half-brother was referring.

" _Tim, of course. Are you dumb? Told me he wouldn't be able to make the wedding._ "

Antonio almost choked. "He did?"

" _You having beef or something? He didn't tell you?_ "

"Oh, no— not at all!", Antonio said with faux cheer. "He told me he wouldn't be able to make it last weekend. I thought he had already called you. He's got business to take care of. In Rotterdam, as far as I know?"

" _Yeah, that's what he said too._ "

Antonio's chest tightened. They really knew each other too well.

"So, it'll just be me", he said. "That doesn't mess with your planning, right?"

João huffed. " _Nah. Not by much. Would be worse if Gabriel cancelled._ "

"Best man and all", Antonio said. "That all? I have work to do."

" _And I got a wedding to plan. See ya_."

"See you." Antonio hung up and picked up Gilbert's call again. "Tim told my brother he's not coming to the wedding."

" _So your problem's solved! Awesome!_ "

"Kinda", Antonio muttered. "Look, Tim and João are really good friends. He's so against seeing me that he misses a friend's wedding."

" _That must sting_."

"You bet." Antonio could hear Roderich calling Gilbert's name and something in German in the background. "You busy?"

Gilbert huffed. " _Now, yeah. We'll talk, right?_ "

"Sure."

"' _kay, bye_."

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The wedding was lovely. Francis cried, of course. João had smiled more than he had all his life and Cheng had literally glowed with joy.

Antonio sipped at his champagne, watching his half-brother and new husband have the first dance as a couple, other pairs gradually joining them.

"Anthonyyyyy!", a familiar voice called and before Antonio could even grimace at his name's slaughter, Alfred all but barrelled into him.

"Hi Alfredo", he said. "Something up?"

Alfred bounced on the balls of his feet like the overgrown kid he was. "I wanted to talk to Tim, actually! Haven't seen him yet!"

"That's because he's not here, you twit", Arthur said, coming up behind his husband with a scowl.

Alfred let out a disbelieving whine. "What? Really, Antonio?"

"Yep", Antonio said simply and shrugged, his stomach in twists. "He had important business to take care of. In the Netherlands."

"What?" Arthur frowned. "I saw him just today, though. He's at his sister's place. Fought with a neighbour over parking space."

It sounds so much like Tim, that Antonio's heart clenched almost painfully. "...I guess he's back early?"

Arthur didn't seem convinced, but he shrugged and left, Alfred in tow, whining about missing the opportunity to talk to Tim Jansen.

Antonio sighed and leaned against the pillar behind him, watching his friends and family dance and laugh. Gilbert and Roderich were there, Lovino, too, but without Emma, who had gotten sick yesterday and insisted Lovino went anyway. Francis and Alistair were at the bar, smiling and drinking.

_'Don't show your fucking face around here ever again.'_

Antonio grimaced and grasped his glass a bit tighter.

_'You would be nothing without me.'_

Christ, what had he thought?! The one topic Tim was oversensitive about and he did what, throw it in his face.

_'I don't want you, I don't need you!'_

Tim's words had hurt just as much, however.

And still...

Antonio felt like he had made a giant mistake in yanking the door open and telling his boyfriend to never show up at _their_ home again.

Shit, they had both talked shit. They had hauled violent accusations they knew would cut the other deeply at each other.

 _Christ_ , they were so dumb.

Antonio looked into his champagne flute. 'What are you even still doing here, Antonio Fernández Carriedo?'

He slammed the flute onto the nearest waiter's tablet and ran out of the hall.

The night air was bitingly cold, but Antonio didn't give a damn. Not right now.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

When he arrived, his throat was burning and he was gasping for breath while he pressed the doorbell next to a flowery sign reading 'Jansen'.

"Emma, sorry to show up like this", Antonio panted when the Belgian girl opened the front door. "I have to talk to Timo, please."

Emma looked him over. She was wrapped in a woolen sweater and a scarf, nose red and sniffling. Still, she managed to look worried about _Antonio._ "Toni, did you run here?! From the wedding?"

"Yeah, I did", he said and waved it off. "Please, I just gotta talk to Tim."

"Oh god, you two", Emma sighed and shook her head. "He just left, Toni."

Antonio's still rapidly beating heart stopped for a moment. "What?! Where?"

'Please not back to Amsterdam, please not back to Amsterdam, please not-'

Emma tugged at a blond curl. "Well, to the wedding. He wanted to talk to you, too. You have the worst timing."

Antonio wanted to both cry in relief and irritation. Tim's sister sighed and threw him a pair of keys.

"Take my car. It's due time that you two get it together. So." She gave him a bright smile and sniffled again. "Don't screw this up and don't crash my car, Toni."

Antonio held the keys tightly and darted forward to press a kiss to Emma's cheek, sick or not. "Gracias, Emma. Muchas gracias.*"

She just giggled. "You're one of my best friends, Toni, and Tim's my brother. I'd do anything for you two. Come on, get going."

Antonio rushed down the stairs and to her car, a small Fiat 500, jumped inside and started the engine, managing not to kill it. The wheels screeched when he pulled out of the driveway and Antonio silently prayed that no police would pull him over now, going about 20km/h over the speed limit.

By car, the way only took five minutes. The hall where João's and Cheng's wedding feast was just properly starting, was brightly illuminated and he could hear the music when he parked Emma's car and jumped out of it, barely remembering to lock it.

Antonio burst into the hall and promptly ran into, oh fuck no, Francis.

"Oh, Antoine, mon cher!*", the Frenchman lilted, clearly intoxicated. "I thought you'd left me all alone~"

Now, Antonio loved his friend, don't get him wrong. But right now he didn't have the patience to deal with drunk Francis.

"You're here with Alastair, where is he?", he said and scanned the crowd for the dark red hair belonging to the Scot.

"There! There! Alastair, cheri! Ici!*" Francis started waving and Antonio used that moment to sneak away.

"Hey— you!" He stopped a random waiter. "Have you seen a guy with blond hair, a scar on his forehead and probably a blue and white scarf?"

The waiter gave him a 'are you fucking kidding me' look. "Sir, I am serving over 200 people here. I haven't and if I had, I couldn't remember."

"Joder*", Antonio swore and waded through tipsy and dancing guests, looking for Tim's tall figure.

He spotted him heading towards the exit.

"No, no, no", Antonio mumbled and squeezes past friends and family, ignoring people talking to him and not apologising for elbowing them. "Timo! Hey! Tulipán!"

Tim stoppee and turned around, green eyes searching until they fell on him.

The music was suddenly quiet, like through water, and everything Antonio could hear was his own thundering heartbeat.

After two long weeks, there he stood: casual, just in jeans and T-shirt, his hair messily done and his trademark scarf wrapped around his neck.

He could see Tim mouthing his name and then the Dutchman moved, long strides towards him until there was only an arm's length between them.

"Antonio", Tim breathed, like he couldn't really believe that he was there in front of him.

Antonio wanted to reach out and hug him, tell him he was sorry and that he missed him, but he could't.

"Hi", he said quietly and managed a lopsided smile. "It's been a while, huh?"

Tim frowned. "You weren't here. I asked João, he told me you had left."

Antonio chuckled, god, he had missed that voice and that accent. "I did leave. I went to Emma's to talk to you but you weren't there. So I drove back. And... well, here we are."

Tim's eyes softened a bit and for a moment, his fingers twitched towards Antonio. "Yeah."

The music changed to Portuguese pop and the guests around them cheered.

Tim swore under his breath and stepped forward, pulled Antonio against him and mumbled: "Het spijt me.*"

Antonio's fingers clutched at Tim's shoulders and he burrowed his face in the crook of Tim's neck, breathing in the oh so familiar scent of him.

"Lo siento también*", he whispered and exhaled a shuddering breath against Tim's pale skin.

"I'm still pissed, though", the Dutchman rumbled. "I missed you and I'm sorry for the crap I said, but I'm still pissed at what you said, too."

Antonio nodded. "I know, I know. I'm sorry, Timo. I really am."

Tim huffed and a big hand came up to thread into his brown curls. "Don't do it again. Don't _ever_ do it again."

He laughed weakly. "I won't. I swear, I won't. Same goes for you, though."

Tim's arms tightened around him and Antonio felt him exhale shakily. "...good. I promise I won't, too."

Antonio felt his eyes stinging and pressed a soft kiss to his boyfriend's jaw. "Sí."

They stayed like this for a while, just embracing and touching gently, until Cheng came around in his beautiful traditional Chinese wedding robes.

"Antonio, Mr Jansen", he said and smiled softly. "I'm glad to see you both here."

Antonio smiled at his brother-in-law. "Yeah, me too."

Tim huffed. "I guess so." Then he cleared his throat. "Congratulations on your wedding, Mr Carriedo Santos."

"Thank you, Mr Jansen", Cheng said with a slight bow. "I actually kept my name, though."

Tim groaned quietly. "...right. Sorry. Mr Wang."

Antonio laughed and grabbed Tim's hand despite the other's mumbled complaints. He knew he didn't mean them, not really.

"Cheng, there you— what the fuck." João came to a stop beside his husband and stared at Antonio and Tim with a frown. "Toño, I thought you'd left. And where do you come from, Jansen?"

"I came back!", Antonio said cheerfully. "Were you worried for me, Juanito?"

João glared at him. "Call me that one more time and I'll kick you out."

Cheng sighed with a fond smile. "Please don't."

João groaned. "Fine. Cheng, Yao's dancing over there and I think Leon might be filming it—"

And with that, the couple of the hour was gone.

"You wanna stay?", Antonio asked and squeezes Tim's hand. "We can head home too." His smile fell. "You're coming home, right?"

Tim huffed again. "Of course I'm coming home, domkop. If I have to eat waffles for dinner one more time I'll go insane." He turned away and said, quieter: "And I already told you I missed you."

Antonio's heart fluttered and he pulled at Tim's hand to turn him around. The Dutchman looked him straight in the eye, but he seemed uncomfortable and embarrassed.

"Te amo, tulipán.*"

Tim rolled his eyes and gave Antonio a gentle shove before pulling him into an awkward hug. "Ik hou ook van je.*"

They stayed like this for a few moments, then Antonio stepped back.

"Now that we've sorted that out", he said. "Alfred wanted to talk to you."

"Oh god, let's leave right now."

**Author's Note:**

>  **Translations:**  
>  Tülpchen - diminutive of Tulpe (= tulip)  
> scheiße - shit  
> (Muchas) Gracias - Thank you (so much)  
> Mon cher - my dear  
> Ici - here  
> Joder - shit  
> Tulipán - tulip  
> Het spijt me - I'm sorry  
> Lo siento también - I'm sorry too  
> Te amo - I love you  
> Ik hou ook van je - I love you too
> 
>  **Mentioned unofficial names:**  
>  Èric Fernández Carriedo - Catalonia  
> Xanti Fernández Carriedo - Basque  
> Gabriel Jansen - Luxembourg  
> Wang Cheng - Macau  
> João Carriedo Santos - Portugal  
> Wang Ji Long/Leon - Hong Kong  
> Emma Jansen - Belgium  
> Alastair Kirkland - Scotland


End file.
